A popular face of the Bhartiya Janta Party, Venkaiah Naidu is the NDA’s candidate for the post of Vice President.
Senior BJP leader Muppavarapu Venkaiah has come a long way since the days of political insecurity to be chosen as the NDA’s candidate for Vice President. The election is slated for 5 August and incumbent VP Hamid Ansari will demit office on 10 August.
When Naidu was 10 years old, he was attracted towards the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS), not for its ideologies but for his love for kabaddi. His love for this Indian sport set the tone for him to rise.
Some facts you need to know about Venkaiah Naidu, the NDA candidate for Vice President:
- Coming from an agricultural family of Andhra Pradesh he started his political career as a student leader and later joined the Jan Sangh.
- He was elected to the Rajya Sabha thrice from Karnataka and once from Rajasthan.
- The veteran leader served as the BJP national president from July 2002 to October 2004.
- He also served as the Rural Development Minister in the NDA government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and was instrumental in launching the ‘Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana’.
- He held the portfolios of Parliamentary Affairs, Information and Broadcasting and Urban Development in PM Narendra Modi’s government.
- As the Urban Development minister, he started several urban missions, including the Smart City Mission, Atal Mission, Swachh Bharat Mission and Housing for All.
- He was also elected twice to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly.
- Venkaiah Naidu will be contesting against former Governor and Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Gopal Krishna Gandhi.
- If elected, he would be the third Vice President from Andhra Pradesh.
Naidu has finally resigned from his ministerial responsibilities and filed the nomination in the Parliament in the presence of PM Narendra Modi, BJP national president Amit Shah, Lal Krishna Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi.
After M. Venkaiah Naidu resigned from the post following his nomination, Textile Minister Smriti Irani has been given the additional charge of Information and Broadcasting and Narendra Singh Tomar has been given the charge of Urban Development Ministry.
Thus Naidu is considered to be the best versed with parliamentary proceedings. Though several other names were also doing the rounds, Naidu was found to be politically the smartest to run the House according to the needs of the government.
